


Favours

by Twyd



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Brothers, Crushes, Dating, Developing Friendships, Feelings, Friendship, Jealousy, Love Triangles, M/M, Matchmaking, One-Sided Attraction, Possessive Behavior, Pre-Slash, Relationship Advice, Slash, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-29 10:40:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12629220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twyd/pseuds/Twyd
Summary: Asking Kasuka to try and make peace with Izaya on his behalf backfires horribly.





	Favours

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SM0KE_AND_MIRR0RS](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SM0KE_AND_MIRR0RS/gifts).



> For the lovely SMoKE_AND_MIRRoRS, for the Kazaya appreciation club, haha.

Kasuka spoons up the last few scoops of his ice-cream, frowning. Shizuo has barely touched his own,

“What’s on your mind, Shizuo?”

His brother swallows.

“I need a favour.”

Kasuka wonders if he needs to borrow money again. He doesn’t care if he does, he just wishes Shizuo wouldn’t worry about it so much. He’d give Shizuo more if his brother let him.

“It’s kind of weird,” Shizuo goes on, putting that suspicion to bed. “And maybe it won’t work, but I want to give it a shot... Look, you’re the calmest guy I know, Kasuka. Nothing ever rattles you. So…I wondered if you could talk to Izaya and see if you can get him to agree to sort of, bury the hatchet.”

Kasuka blinks. This he had not expected.

“Or maybe a kind of truce,” Shizuo goes on. “I mean, way too much shit has happened for us to just brush under the carpet.”

Kasuka nods thoughtfully.

“I see.”

“He’ll be defensive and annoying as hell, but you’ll handle it way better than I ever could. I know you’ll be able to talk to him without getting offended or manipulated.”

He makes himself shut up so Kasuka can speak.

“I’d be happy to,” Kasuka says, like it’s nothing. “I don’t know Izaya so well, so I don’t know how he’ll take it, but I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you," Shizuo says, relieved. Asking hadn't been as hard as he'd feared. Anyone else may have interrogated him more, but not his brother.

Shizuo considers telling Kasuka his real motivation, but decides against it. He’ll just worry about getting the hostility between himself and Izaya down first, and worry about everything else later. Who knows, maybe the feeling would go away by itself.

-

Kasuka finds Izaya eating alone in the noodle bar Shizuo had directed him to. He dithers, feeling it would be rude to approach before the informant’s finished his food, but, on the other hand, it would keep him from leaving. He decides to compromise, and waits until Izaya has only a few bites left before coming over.

“Hello, Izaya-san.”

The informant lifts his head, and his eyebrows shoot up when he sees who it is.

“Hello, Kasuka-san.”

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” He takes the seat opposite when Izaya nods. “How are you?”

“I’m well, thanks,” he says, smirking, as if pleasantries were for the simple. “How are you?”

“I’m well too.”

Kasuka pauses, second guessing himself yet again on how to go about this. He doesn’t know what brought Shizuo to want this, but he could tell that it was important.

“What can I do for you?” Izaya prompts, still smirking.

Kasuka is about to speak, when he notices what is on Izaya’s plate. He’d been standing around for a while, and he’s suddenly hungry.

“That looks good,” he says.

“It is,” Izaya says. “You should order some when you’re done, if they haven't closed.”

Kasuka looks up at him. The informant is watching Kasuka with his head propped on one hand, glossy hair framing his beautiful face. His smirk has fallen into a lazy smile.

“I’m here about Shizuo, obviously,” Kasuka says. “I know it’s none of my business, but you’ve been causing each other trouble for a long time, so, maybe it’s time to start toning it down.”

“And how does your dear brother feel about this?”

“It was his idea.”

Izaya's eyebrows shoot up again.

“Really.”

“Yes.”

“It was Shizu-chan’s idea.”

“Yes.”

“...did they send him on a course or something?”

“Izaya,” Kasuka says, forgetting the honourific in his impatience.

“I’m not sure I believe you, Kasuka-san.”

“You can ask him.”

“OK,” Izaya says sceptically. “So Shizu-chan’s going to stop throwing stop signs at me whenever he sees me. Just like that.”

“Yes. Unless it’s to stop you from doing something wrong, obviously. But yes, if he just sees you around, he’s not going to do anything.”

“So I’m allowed in Ikebukuro now?”

“I guess,” Kasuka says, shrugging. He hadn’t realised their fighting was quite this intense.

“What’s the catch?”

“Well, you have to stop implicating him in things and getting him fired.”

“I haven’t got Shizu-chan fired in ages.”

“Because you haven’t been able to, because he’s working for his friend.”

“Still.”

“Izaya-san,” Kasuka says patiently, and Izaya smirks again, as if Kasuka’s efforts were hilarious. “Please. This has to be a two way thing. Avoid each other if you need to, but don’t make things difficult for each other anymore. That’s it.”

“Sounds boring.” He starts sliding his phone around the table, as if Kasuka himself was boring.

“Wouldn’t you like to get on with whatever it is you do in Ikebukuro in peace?”

“I do, pretty much.”

“But things must go wrong  whenever he sees you.”

“He tends to hurl a heavy object – vending machines and stop signs are his current favourite – and chase me over rooftops and railways.”

“Well, wouldn’t you like that to stop?”

“Not really. I kind of enjoy it.”

Kasuka sighs inwardly before continuing.

“All the time, though? It doesn’t ever cause trouble for you?”

His eyes keep dropping to Izaya’s plate of their own will. He should have eaten before he came.

“Maybe you should order something. I have a feeling this is going to take a while.”

“I might. Do you want dessert?”

“Is that a bribe?”

“It’s manners. You should try them sometime.”

Izaya laughs with delight. He likes being called out on his bullshit.

“So you like being run out of town every other week like a stray dog?” Kasuka resumes innocently.

Izaya’s eyes narrow, his smile fading.

“All right,” he admits. “Sometimes it is funny. But sometimes it really pisses me off. Especially if I’m not doing anything.”

“Well, there you go." He waves for the waiter. " _Do_ you want dessert? I’m going to order.”

“You’re an excellent negotiator, Kasuka-san. They should send you to Korea.”

Kasuka’s lips twitch.

“You’re funny.”

“I do my best.”

“Will you at least think about what I said?” Kasuka says, sensing he can’t push this for much longer.

“I might,” he says. “But what’s going on with Shizu-chan? Why the sudden change of heart?”

“Maybe he’s grown up.”

“Hm, maybe. I always thought he’d outgrow me.” He tries to make it sound flippant, but doesn’t quite manage it. “Is it really just that? He hasn’t got himself some girlfriend who wants him to be a better person, or something?”

“Nope, no girlfriend.”

“And he’s definitely not in therapy?”

“Why don’t you speak to Shizuo himself if you’re so interested in him?”

Izaya laughs again. He gets his coat from the back of his chair.

“It was very nice if you to come, Kasuka-san. A lot of people wouldn’t have. You must really love your brother.”

Kasuka looks at him steadily, hearing the almost imperceptible change in tone.

“Is this how you get information from people?”

“No. This is how I make them uncomfortable.” He gives a smile. “But it doesn’t seem to be working just now.”

“Why do you like making people uncomfortable?”

“To get information from them.”

“I doubt I have any information that would be useful to you.”

“All information is useful at some point or other.”

“I suppose so,” Kasuka says. “I really am going to order now. Why don’t you stay and have a drink?”

The informant falters for the first time.

“Why?”

“Why not?”

Izaya takes his coat off again, if only because he can’t think of something to say.

“Did Shizu- “

“Let’s forget Shizuo for a minute,” Kasuka interrupts, signalling again for the waiter.

“How can I forget him? You look just like him.”

“No I don’t.”

“You do. You’re a tiny Shizu-chan who’s lost his hair dye and just got back from a yoga retreat.”

Kasuka almost laughs out loud this time.

“I think you’re projecting him on me.”

“I am not.”

“Can’t you talk about anything else?”

Again he falters, as if he’s been caught out.

“Not to you,” he hedges. “I don’t really like movies.”

“Me neither,” Kasuka says calmly. “I think that’s why I’m good at them. They don’t mean anything to me, so I can switch on and off as I like.”

“Oh, I know that feeling,” Izaya says, sitting back, looking comfortable for the first time since Kasuka got here. He doesn’t make conversation though. Kasuka does it for him, keeping it going as his food and Izaya’s dessert arrives. He senses Izaya struggling not to revert back to Shizuo, like a smoker twitching for his lighter. He wonders how they became so embittered with each other. Izaya is even smarter and more good looking up close than at a distance. Surely he had something better to think about than his brother?

“Do you come here a lot?” he asks Izaya, when they've finished.

Izaya’s eyebrows raise again, but he doesn’t smirk. He even gives a normal answer.

“Yes.”

“OK. Maybe I’ll see you.”

He pays and leaves, taking the long way home. He has a lot to think about. 

-

He goes to Shizuo’s to tell him how it went. Shizuo is practically wringing his hands with nerves, but Kasuka doesn’t notice. The informant had been preoccupying him more than he expected.

“He said it’s fine, he’ll back off,” Kasuka says simply. “I learned two things, if you want some advice for dealing with him. The first is that you need to be kind to him, or at least civil if you can’t manage that. Second is that you don’t react. You don’t get angry or insulted. When all that falls away- and it really doesn’t take very long - he just doesn’t know what to do. And then he starts being himself.”

Shizuo frowns, relieved it went well, yet a little deflated by the fact it had taken his brother a couple of hours to do something he hadn’t been able to in years.

“Did you talk about me?”

“Huh?” Kasuka says, as if he’d forgotten what the whole thing was about. “Not much. I didn’t want to freak him out.”

“Oh.”

“He’s OK,” Kasuka is saying. “In the long run, way down the line, I mean, I think you could get to like him. You can have a good conversation with him. He kept throwing in all these jibes at first, but he got bored of that when I didn’t bite. His sense of humour is kind of dark, but I quite like that. He- “

Kasuka stops himself suddenly. Taking an interest in Izaya would be unthinkable, even amongst these new developments.

Shizuo is nodding however, oblivious.

“I think I could too.”

-

Kasuka has second thoughts in the days that follow this conversation. After all, if they weren’t fighting any more, what was the harm in him spending time with Izaya? It might even be a good thing, and serve as extra motivation for them to keep them claws to themselves.

He goes to the noodle bar around the same time as when Izaya had last been there, and sure enough, the informant is there. He smiles when he sees Kasuka.

“Hello, Shizu-chan’s brother,” he says. “I owe you dinner.”

-

The next time Kasuka’s at Shizuo’s apartment, it’s to ask for a favour of his own. He decides against taking him for ice cream, however, in case it makes him throw up.

Kasuka had been going out with Izaya long enough to decide that the informant wasn’t scheming something, and long enough to make sure it wasn't just a flyby crush on his part. Now he's settled those points, it wouldn't be fair to keep going behind Shizuo's back.

“Don’t freak out,” Kasuka tells him. “I know this whole talking to Izaya thing was meant to be about making peace, but it’s sort of become more than that.”

Shizuo frowns.

“What do you mean?”

“I sort of had dinner with Izaya a few times,” he says, and Shizuo’s heart sinks, seeing where this is going.

“Don’t be mad,” he goes on. “We just bumped into each other. We got talking and, well, we get on really well.”

Shizuo opens his mouth, but nothing comes out.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Kasuka continues. “But I don’t think he’s manipulating me. He never fishes for information or anything like that. He teases me a lot, but I think that’s just the way he is. So we went out a few times and, yeah, like I said, it’s going well.”

Shizuo is breathing the way he did when he first picked up the fridge.

“Shizuo,” Kasuka says, to bring him back. “Just think of it as extra motivation for your truce. You can’t exactly fight him if he’s dating me, and he definitely won’t bother you any more.”

Shizuo says nothing.

“We’re taking it slowly, anyway,” Kasuka goes on. “He’s paranoid you’ll rip his head off or something when you find out.”

“How do you know that’s why he wants to take things slowly?” Shizuo hears himself saying. “Maybe he just wants to anyway.  Maybe you’ve misread the whole situation.”

Kasuka looks at him pityingly.

“I haven’t.”

More silence.

“Don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad.”

And he isn’t. He’s fucking heartbroken.

-

Shizuo dreads running into Izaya, but when it finally happens, it is Izaya who seems to be afraid of him, his eyes widening like everyone’s does when they see him.

“Snap out of it, flea,” he hears himself saying. “I’m over it.”

“…you are?”

“Well…no, obviously not, but there’s no point making a big fucking scene about it. You two can do what you want.”

Izaya looks almost guilty, which makes Shizuo feel even worse, as it confirms it’s serious. If Izaya had been smirking, he could have put the whole thing down as a big joke, which, while not very fair to his brother, would be a big relief for him.

“I’m sorry, Shizu-chan,” Izaya says now. “I tried to sort of put him off at first but, I don’t know, it’s hard. He’s really nice.”

“Yeah, he’s fucking awesome.”

Izaya gives a him a bit of a look at his tone.

“OK, I think I’ll be going now. See you round.”

“Why do you like him?” Shizuo blurts. “I mean, what do you like about him so much?”

Izaya just looks confused.

“What do you mean? Everyone likes your brother.”

-

Just when Shizuo thinks his day can’t get any worse, his brother confronts him.

“You have to tell Izaya that you’re OK with us dating.”

“I did,” he growls. And he had, sort of.

“Well, you have to do it better. It’s making him hold back.”

“How do you know it’s not something else that’s making him hold back?”

“Because, it’s you he mentions every five minutes. ‘Shizuo would freak out, it’s too weird.’ You have to tell him it’s fine. Come on, you owe me. I only talked to him in the first place because of you.”

Shizuo wants to rip the whole road up, never mind a stop sign.

“Come out to dinner with us tonight,” Kasuka is saying, fortunately backing off before Shizuo’s fantasy comes true. “I’ll text you.”

-

Shizuo arrives first. He’s only come because he thinks Kasuka might bring Izaya to his house if he bails, and make everything a hell of a lot more awkward than it already was.

Kasuka shows up practically dragging the informant by the arm. Shizuo;s stomach give a sick little flip flop, the way it’s started to whenever he sees the informant. He also feels a little swell of hope, seeing his reluctance as Kasuka drags him forward. Maybe he would decide that dating Kasuka was more hassle than it was worth.

“Hi, Shizuo.”

Kasuka keeps hold of Izaya’s arm once they sit down, as if he may take off at any moment. Izaya raises his eyebrows at him.

 _They look good together_ , Shizuo thinks sadly. Not that that means anything, but they do. They’re both so beautiful.

“Shizuo, tell Izaya you’re OK with this.” Kasuka prompts, after they’re done with small talk.

Izaya rolls his eyes. “This isn’t helping, Kasuka.”

Kasuka ignores him.

“Shizuo?”

“Well…I’m actually not.”

Kasuka rolls his own eyes while Izaya laughs.

“But you’re OK enough not to kill him or harass him or anything like that?” Kasuka persists. “You’ll just let us get on with it?”

“That’s what I have been doing,” he growls.

_You didn’t have to make me come to dinner and rub my face in it._

Kasuka’s hand slips down Izaya’s arm and holds his hand instead. He does it almost unconsciously.

Shizuo catches Izaya’s eye by accident, and the informant looks away.

Kasuka starts to say something else when Izaya’s phone rings.

“Sorry.” Izaya lets go of Kasuka’s hand to get his phone out. “I have to take this.”

Shizuo and Kasuka look at each other when he’s gone. Kasuka looks disappointed, which hurts even though Shizuo’s mad at him.

“You said you were going to tell him it’s fine, Shizuo.”

“He doesn’t care what I think.”

“He does, he really does.” He pauses. “Look, maybe you’re right and it won’t work out. But if it does, and I’d really like it to, you need to get on with each other.”

“You co what you want, Kasuka, I’m not stopping you.”

“He’s holding back because of this.”

“What do you mean?”

“We still haven’t had sex.”

“Kasuka!" he hisses, embarassed, although no-one is taking any notice of their conversation. 

Shizuo has to admit he’s surprised. He assumed they’d be well intimate by now, even if he prefers not to think about the subject.

“He keeps putting it off. He’s scared you’ll be able to tell something’s different and go nuts.”

“He’s that scared of me, huh?” Shizuo shakes his head. “And you want this taken care of just so he’ll put out? What are you, 16?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kasuka snaps. Izaya comes back before he can get really rattled.

“Last call of the night,” he promises Kasuka, and Shizuo feels queasy, thinking they’re probably going to go to bed straight after this. He had practically given them permission to sleep together.

Perhaps the fact that they hadn’t is a good sign. He wonders if they’d kissed. They must have. And sex is subjective. They may have not had intercourse, but that still left a lot on the table. Perhaps they slept in the same bed. It’s all pointless worrying about anyway, because regardless of their sex life they spend time together and tell each other things, and that, that scares him more.

“Kasuka, I need to talk to you,” he blurts.

They both blink at him like he’s thrown up on the table.

“Now?”

“It’s OK, I’ll go,” Izaya says quickly.

“No,” Kasuka says, grabbing his arm. “What is it, Shizuo? I wanted the three of us to have dinner together.”

Izaya is watching him and seems to see how important it is.

“Chill out, honey,” he says to Kasuka sarcastically, shaking him off gently. Shizuo tenses as he stands, not sure if he can take seeing a kiss goodbye, but Izaya only puts a hand on Kasuka's back for a moment. “See you later.”

Kasuka just stares at Shizuo when he’s gone.

“See? He’s not so bad.”

“Do you really like him, Kasuka?”

“Of course I do.”

“...Fuck.”

“What? What is it?”

“Kasuka.” Shizuo puts his face in his hands, feeling it go red. “Listen. I asked you to do this whole truce thing with Izaya because _I_ like him.”

Kasuka stares at him like he’s been turned to stone.

“No you don’t.”

“I do.”

They sit in silence for a long time.

“I’m so sorry,” Kasuka says eventually. “I had no idea.”

“It’s OK,” Shizuo mutters. “It’s my fault. I should have told you from the start. I just didn’t want to face up to it. I even thought it might go away. But then I saw you and him together and I couldn’t stand it. I almost killed you a few times, I swear.”

“...we can fix it,” Kasuka says, after some thought.

“There’s nothing to fix. If you’re happy, he’s happy, we're not fighting anymore, what’s to fix?”

“It’s still early days. Nothing’s set in stone.”

“Oh come on, you’d drop him just like that? What kind of boyfriend are you?”

“Shizuo.” Kasuka practically pulls on his hair. “I’m trying to do the right thing. I like Izaya a lot, but I feel terrible about this. And if something is going to happen, it’s better for it to be sooner rather than later.”

Shizuo is shaking his head.

“It doesn’t matter. He’s not into me anyway.”

“He wasn’t into me at first either.”

“Yeah, but you’re you.”

“And you’re _you_ ,” Kasuka shoots back at him. “And he never shuts up about you.”

“...That’s because he hates me.”

“You’re a big part of his life, however he feels about you. It’s better than indifference. In fact, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.”

“I dunno. What if you and Izaya are perfect for each other and I’ve ruined it?”

“Shizuo, what if _you_ and Izaya are perfect for each other?”

“We’re not, obviously we’re not,” he mumbles.

The waiter comes and takes their order.

"I'll talk to Izaya," Kasuka tells his brother.

"Don't tell him, Kasuka."

"Don't worry. We'll just talk."

-

Kasuka only goes to Izaya once he's cleared his head.

“Does the protozoan still want to cut my balls off?” Izaya says, oblivious. He face changes when he sees Kasuka. “What? Did he cut your balls off?”

“Shut up,” Kasuka says, feeling a damning twinge of affection for him. He sits Izaya down and tell him. It is just like the first night in the noodle bar all over again, Izaya refusing to believe him.

“There’s no way. You must have made a mistake. Or he’s hit his head or something. Or, he’s just saying this as a way to get you to end this! Yes, that must be it! Don’t you see?”

Kasuka waits for him to finish his tirade.

“Do you like him?”

“What?” he says, frowning. “I like you, Kasuka.”

“I know,” he says. “I like you too, but, you’ve known Shizuo longer and you've spent a lot of time together, even if it's not all good. Are you sure there’s nothing there?”

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“OK,” Kasuksa sighs, sensing when not to push him. “I just think it’s important that you know, so you can decide for yourself.”

“Does he know you’re here?”

“No.”

Izaya shakes his head.

“Shizu-chan is such an idiot.”

“He is, but take it from me, he’s a very sweet idiot.”

Izaya groans and puts his head in his hands.

Kasuka gets up and kisses the top of his head.

“Look, just think about it, OK? I like you a lot, but you have to do what’s right for you, and it’s better if you decide now before we get closer.”

Izaya lifts his head up.

“You’re really not upset?”

He shrugs.

“Kind of. I like you. I just wish I’d figured out what was going on in the first place.”

Izaya says nothing for a moment.

 “It’s not that bad,” Kasuka tells him, sitting back down. “It’s OK. It’s sad, but it’s OK. We can still hang out if this whole thing is taken care of.”

“Hm, maybe not. It’d be a little traumatic for Shizu-chan. He seems to think we’re on the verge of eloping.”

“He’d get over it. He knows I wouldn't do anything to hurt him.” _Not knowingly, anyway._

“This is so weird. How do I even go about this? If he finds out you told me, he’ll kill you. If he thinks I’ve just randomly dumped you, he’ll kill me.”

Hearing Izaya make his decision out loud somehow makes it easier. Kasuka slips back into the person he was at the noodle bar, the outsider, the brother, trying to help two idiots.

-

Their dinner is rescheduled.

Shizuo frowns when Izaya shows up alone.

“Where’s Kasuka?”

“I think he’s running late.”

They sit back as the waiter brings them tea.

“Listen, Shizuo,” Izaya starts. “Whatever happens with me and Kasuka…I think you and I should keep up this truce thing. I think it was a good idea.”

Shizuo nods. It’s a relief to hear Izaya’s future with Kasuka isn’t the be all and end all. He wonders if Kasuka had deliberately started some sort of fight.

Izaya’s phone pings, distracting him before he can feel too guilty.

“Kasuka’s not coming,” he says. “His director’s being a dick.” He lifts his eyes to Shizuo’s uncertainly. “You want to order anyway or call it a night?”

“…I’m kind of hungry.”

“Me too.”

They order their food. The waiter confirms that it’s just the two of them now, and takes the extra placemat and cup away.

“I don’t know if it’s going to work out with me and Kasuka, honestly,” Izaya says, playing with his chopsticks. “Don’t be mad. I haven't been messing with him.”

“I'm not mad” Shizuo says. He's quite the opposite. “How come?”

“I don’t know. I just see myself hanging out with him like Shinra or Kadota, like a friend.”

“Because he’s a guy?”

“No,” Izaya says, meeting Shizuo’s eyes as he says this so it’s loud and clear. “I don’t have a problem with him being a guy.”

“Oh.” Shizuo shifts. “He told me you guys never, uh…”

“ _Did_ he?” Izaya says, laughing. “I knew he told you stuff. I had every right to be paranoid after all.”

“Only that,” Shizuo protests. “As a way of kind of appeasing me. I don’t even know if it’s true.”

“It’s true,” Izaya says. “I felt bad about you. I mean, if I’d go nuts if you dated someone in my family, even if it was true love or something.”

Their food arrives, and Izaya keeps quiet as he eats, giving Shizuo a chance to speak, or at least give some encouraging sign. When he doesn’t, he tries to prompt him.

“How’s your love life, Shizu-chan?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“So you’re not seeing anyone?”

“No.”

Sensing things about to turn awkward, Izaya steers the conversation back to neutral territory, to Russia Sushi  and Shinra/Celty and the Saika zombies. They thankfully have quite a lot of this in common.

“Well, I should get going,” Izaya says, when they’re done. His brain hurts from being nice-ish for so long. “See you, Shizu-chan.”

“We should do this again,” Shizuo blurts. “I mean, if Kasuka’s ever busy or something. It was all right.”

Izaya feels something warm swell up inside him.

“Yes, we definitely should.”

“And let me know what happens with Kasuka.”

“I will.”

-

Shizuo and Izaya call him at the same time. Kasuka pauses, before deciding his brother comes first. He'd probably be repeating himself, anyway.

“Kasuka. Are you and Izaya still…?”

“I don’t think so,” he says. “You officially have my permission to go for it.”

“Really?”

“You enjoyed yourself tonight, didn’t you? So see him again.”

“But how? You can’t just stop showing up to things, it’d look really obvious.”

“Leave me out of it completely,” Kasuka explains patiently. “If he said he’d be up for hanging out again, invite him over for take-out or something. You can open a bottle and put a movie on.”

“…”

“…Shizuo?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you still like him?”

“I do, I definitely do.”

“Then do something about it,” Kasuka smiles to himself. “Or I’ll be taking him back.”

-

Izaya is on Shizuo’s couch in his apartment, a few glasses of sake down his throat and a few hundred words or so rehearsed in his head, when suddenly he doesn’t want to engineer the conversation anymore. He wants to leave the night entirely up to Shizu-chan and the universe. Once he’s settled this with himself, it is much easier to relax.

He’s getting sleepy from good food and from the sake. He stretches and rests his arms over the back of the sofa, feeling Shizuo trying to look at him without looking like he’s looking at him. He’s not sure if he wants to climb onto Shizuo’s lap or curl up and go to sleep.

 _I’m drunk_ , he concludes lazily.

_No, I’m not._

_Yes, I am._

_As if it matters._

_I wonder if Shizu-chan thought it would be a good idea to get me drunk? Or maybe it was my idea, who knows?_

“Izaya.”

Izaya stiffens, sensing this will be it. He tries to will the alcohol out of his bloodstream.

“...do you want some more pocky?”

He almost laughs out loud.

"No thanks."

Shizuo tosses the pack aside. Izaya hears him swallow.

“You know this whole thing with Kasuka. I didn’t just get him to talk to you because I wanted to make peace.”

“No?” Izaya says, feeling like he’s floating. He waits for Shizuo to go on. “Have another drink,” Izaya suggests, when he doesn’t.

“What?”

“Drink,” Izaya repeats, sliding the bottle towards him on the coffee table. “It’ll make it easier.”

“…you already know what I’m going to say?”

“I might,” he says, smirking.

“You’re drunk.”

“You’re not drunk enough, Shizu-chan.”

“Do we need to be drunk for this?”

“No. It was just a suggeston.”

Shizuo looks away.

“Kasuka told you.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to figure it out on my own. I’m very sceptical of people having feelings for me.”

“Why?”

“Why?” he repeats, suddenly uncomfortable. “I don’t know, does it matter?”

He picks up the bottle he’d just pushed at Shizuo, finds it’s empty. He starts feeling around for the bottle opener for another one.

“Izaya.”

Shizuo’s hand covers his own.

He doesn’t even have time to look up when Shizuo’s mouth covers his own, his hand still pinned to the table. Shizuo moves it after a moment to pull Izaya up by the shirt, half dragging him in the vague direction of the bedroom.

“You and Kasuka are definitely done, right?” he says, like an afterthought.

Izaya laughs, touched by his jealousy, and slightly turned on by the note of possessiveness in his voice.

“What would you do if I said no, Shizu-chan? Invite him over?”

“Shut up,” Shizuo growls, but the prospect of a fight is turning him on, Izaya can tell. It’s turning him on as well.  He lets himself go down on the bed when Shizuo pushes him, pulling him down with him. “I don’t want you anywhere near my brother again, Izaya-kun,” Shizuo says, as he starts yanking Izaya’s clothes off. “I don’t want you near anyone but me.”

Izaya groans, almost coming apart there and then at his words.

-

When Izaya wakes up, Shizuo is still lying on top of him, with no sign of getting off. Izaya quite likes it, the delicious feeling of being crushed. Shizuo is holding him though, tender now, as if to make up for his violence last night. His sweet, toe-curling violence.

“I’m so glad you’re not into my brother,” Shizuo mumbles into his hair.

“I think you’re the one who’s into him, Shizu-chan,” Izaya jokes. “You keep bringing him up in bed.”

“Shut up,” he says, but he’s too content to really mean it. He moves off Izaya and pulls him into his side instead.

“This is all your fault, anyway,” Izaya teases him, unable to resist.

“It’s not, it’s- “ Shizuo stops himself, not wanting to say his brother’s name again.

“He Who Must Not Be Named?”

“Yeah, that asshole.”

Izaya starts laughing, until Shizuo kisses him to shut him up.

-

At home, Kasuka is reading. His phone had been suspiciously quiet, from both sides, for days. He keeps eyes it suspiciously on the coffee table, as if it were tricking him.

Then he shrugs and goes back to his book. He figures they’ve either worked things out or killed each other.


End file.
